How often should I change nutes in buckets?

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Surfer Joe

Well-Known Member
[h=2]I am doing a bucket hydro grow in 20L buckets with airstones.[/h]
The plants are in the middle bloom stage, lots of small buds still needing to bulk up and fill in the gaps in the colas. It has a massive rootball and is very bushy with lots of leaves and bud sites.

I tend to replace the bucket every 7 or 8 days with fresh nutes.
In between, I only top up with water at pH 5.7.
The plant uses about 3.6L a day right now to keep topped up to just below the mesh pot level.
I notice that the ppms go down for the first 4 or 5 days and then stop decreasing until I change the nutes and it starts over again.

But I am wondering if I should change the buckets sooner?
If the ppms go down for the first 4 days and then stop decreasing, should I switch buckets then or keep topping up with water for a full 7-8 days before switching?​
 
hangerr

hangerr

Active Member
I like to have them eat nutes and drink water at the same rate.

example:
1. water level goes down, ppm's go up = plants drinking more water than eating nutes. Add a lower ppm solution to top off.
2. water level goes down, ppm's go down = plants eating more nutes than drinking water. Add a higher ppm solution to top off.
3. Water level goes down, ppm's stay the same = plants drinking and eating at the same rate. Add same ppm solution to top off.

#3 is where I want to be.

I do not take credit for this because it was copied and pasted from another member. H e reallt helped me out.
 
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Surfer Joe

Well-Known Member
Thanks. I have found that topping up with nutes doesn't work for me.
When I did top up with nutes, I lost control over the pH and it kept shooting down into the 4.5 range repeatedly.
I eventually solved it with replacing the bucket and going back to my cycle of starting a bucket at 5.8 and letting it rise to about 6.3 in the first two days, then adjusting it back to 5.8 and all the time just topping up with water at about 5.7.
When I do this, it stays stable for the rest of the time until I change the bucket again.
 
BigLittlejohn

BigLittlejohn

Well-Known Member
It sounds like you should keep doing what you are doing then if your plants are reacting well.

What nutes are you feeding? If you are in the middle of flowering, then you may want to consider adding a blossom building additive like bloombastic if you are concerned about airy buds. Just make sure you watch your PPM levels.
 
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Surfer Joe

Well-Known Member
Thanks. I've been using the canna aqua nutes and the additives listed in the canna growing guide.
I also bought a bud bloom additive called bud xl by HG and I was planning to start using that as well.
My main question is whether I should be changing the buckets sooner with fresh nutes as the grow progresses and the plants get more developed or is it ok to keep feeding only water for 7 or 8 days between nute changes.
 
whodatnation

whodatnation

Well-Known Member
hangerr said:
I like to have them eat nutes and drink water at the same rate.

example:
1. water level goes down, ppm's go up = plants drinking more water than eating nutes. Add a lower ppm solution to top off.
2. water level goes down, ppm's go down = plants eating more nutes than drinking water. Add a higher ppm solution to top off.
3. Water level goes down, ppm's stay the same = plants drinking and eating at the same rate. Add same ppm solution to top off.

#3 is where I want to be.

I do not take credit for this because it was copied and pasted from another member. H e reallt helped me out.
Click to expand...


This is exactly what Iv done with good success. Never doing a res change for the entire run just letting them eat and drink as I top off. Eventually I just start topping off with PH'd plain water for flushing.
A balanced plant size to res size helps this whole process.
Each strain has its "sweet spot", which is #3, but does vary slightly throughout the grow.
 
jcommerce

jcommerce

Well-Known Member
Concur with Hangerr. Nute companies will tell you that you need to change your reservoirs or nutes ever 10 days to 2 weeks just so you have to buy more product. I've had very successful runs with only a change or two besides flushing. Coming from a reef tank hobby world, I know that a 10% monthly water change is perfect for very tempermental stony corals. Stony corals are very susceptible to drastic changes and I've found plants can be too. That being said, I've seen plants respond very well to a full change out if they're showing signs of distress. Bottom line, #3 of Hangerr's recommends is a great model to follow. Don't use the amounts and/or change recommendations nute companies recommend...they want you to make more trips to the hydro store.
 
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